Valentine's Day

I've always liked Valentine's Day. Maybe because it's my sisters birthday, so we always had a reason to celebrate as a family. I never really felt any pressure around it. I just figure any chance you have to tell someone - a friend, relative or significant other - that you love them is a good day, in my opinion. 

One Valentine's Day will forever stick with me though. I was in 10th grade in Spanish class. Before class started my teacher, Ms. Sansota, stood up and said she wanted to make an announcement. She said today is just another day, and she wanted to remind everyone that their self worth is more important that being single or not, than getting flowers or chocolate on Valentine's Day or any other day. That it is up to each of us to decide our value, not base it on someone else deciding that we're worth over priced roses, and to always remember that. 

To this day, I have never forgotten those words. And every Valentine's Day since, I've thought of her and how lucky I was to have a teach delivering such an important and powerful message to young students. She taught a much greater lesson than whatever we learned in Spanish that day.

I hope that there are teachers out there trying to teach this message to young people every day. Though I've not kept in touch with her, I hope somewhere Ms. Sansota is still teaching, and I hope she knows how many students lives she has touched over the years. And I hope I am able to spread and continue this very important message of love and self worth to anyone who feels like they need a little extra love today.

You are loved. Happy Valentine's Day.